Behind Madison Bumgarner's complete game four-hitter, the San Francisco Giants grabbed a 3-2 lead in the 2014 World Series over the Kansas City Royals after a 5-0 shutout win in Game 5 on Oct. 26.

Ace 25-year-old lefty Madison Bumgarner, who registered a complete game four-hitter, led the charge for the Giants as they grabbed a 3-2 lead over the Kansas City Royals by virtue of a 5-0 shutout win on Oct. 26, per MLB.com's Chris Haft:

"Madison Bumgarner made history Sunday night and brought the Giants to within a single victory from achieving a lot more of it. Bumgarner established the mood for the party at AT&T Park, known formally as Game 5 of the World Series. The festive sellout crowd rocked to the beat of his complete game four-hitter as the Giants subdued the Kansas City Royals, 5-0.

"San Francisco's ace threw 84 strikes in 117 pitches while fashioning the first World Series shutout since Marlins right-hander Josh Beckett silenced the (New York) Yankees in Game 6 in 2003.

"Leading the series, 3-2, the Giants need one more triumph in the best-of-seven showdown to become the second National League club to win three World Series titles in five years. St. Louis accomplished the feat in 1942, '44 and '46.

"San Francisco faces the challenge of clinching the series in Kansas City, site of Game 6 (Tuesday, 4:30 p.m. PT air time on FOX; 5:07 first pitch) and, if necessary, Game 7. Then again, the Giants went 4-1 on the road while capturing the 2010 and '12 Series and ended five of their eight consecutive postseason series wins away from home.

"'I'm just happy we won,' Bumgarner said. 'That was a big game for us, being tied 2-2. Going back to Kansas City with two games, it's a whole lot better that we have to win one now insetad of having to win two.'

"Bumgarner hiked his innings total for the postseason to 47 2/3, the most all-time by a left-hander and second only to Curt Schilling's 48 1/3 for (the) Arizona (Diamondbacks) in 2001. Bumgarner also established a franchise record by making his seventh postseason start in a row in which he lasted at least seven innings and allowed three runs or fewer. He shrank his World Series ERA to an infinitesimal 0.29 in four starts, complementing Brandon Crawford's three RBIs in Game 5.

"...You can't say enough about Bumgarner. Combined with his NL Wild Card Game whitewash at Pittsburgh, this gem made him the fourth pitcher since division play began in 1969 to throw multiple shutouts in one postseason. The others are Orel Hershiser, Beckett and Randy Johnson.

"'The guy's phenomenal,' said Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas, 0-for-3 against Bumgarner. 'He commanded all of his pitches, and when you thought you knew something, he did the exact opposite. That's what makes him good right now. He was throwing his fastball in there for strikes, and his slider was sweeping all the way across the zone.'

"...The Giants settled matters with a three-run uprising in the eighth inning. Juan Perez, who pinch ran for Travis Ishikawa in the sixth inning, clobbered a double off Royals reliever Wade Davis that struck the top of the center-field wall and chased home Pablo Sandoval and Hunter Pence, who ran in tandem like Olympic relay sprinters. Crawford then singled home Perez, who admitted that he struggled to concentrate on the game after learning of the untimely death of his friend, St. Louis (Cardinals) outfielder Oscar Taveras, who died in a car accident in the Dominican Republic earlier in the day.

"'During the game, when I found out the news, it was a little hard, because I was thinking too much about it,' Perez said. 'Joaquin Arias came over and said, 'Stay strong' and 'We've got to win this game.'

"After doubling, Perez advanced to third on shortstop Alcides Escobar's accompanying throwing error and looked to the sky.

"'I was thinking about it at that time,' Perez said. 'My emotions, everyting came back.'"

MLB.com's Mike Bauman weighed in on Bumgarner's performance on the mound during the World Series in his Oct. 26 blog:

"Madison Bumgarner has done all that could be expected of one pitcher in one postseason.

"He has created a performance that can fairly be mentioned with some of the best October work in this history of baseball. And in the process, he has placed the San Francisco Giants on the brink of their third World Series championship in the past five seasons.

"...Bumgarner's 2014 work definitely stands up with the best postseason work of this season. Here's a sampling of that:

"Curt Schilling, 2001: 4-0, 1.12 ERA in six starts.

"Randy Johnson, 2001: 5-1, 1.52 ERA in six appearances, five starts.

"Josh Beckett, 2007:4-0, 1.20 ERA in four starts.

"With two shutouts this October, Bumgarner becomes the the fourth pitcher since the advent of division play to throw more than one shutout in one postseason. That exclusive group includes Beckett, Johnson and Orel Hershiser. Your browser does not support iframes.

"Bumgarner's importance cannot be overstated. He has already been named the Most Valuable Player of the 2014 NL Championship Series. In this vein, when he came to bat in the eighth inning Sunday night the AT&T crowd of 43,807, not only cheered him, but happily chanted 'MVP! MVP!' at him.